tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:17:28 +0000waxing prolixA peek under the hubcap of the <a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com">Head Rotor</a>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/noreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)Blogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-6515749911443541802Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:35:00 +00002009-09-20T20:55:47.727-07:00My. Best. Hack. Evar.So I swung by the old Alma Mater during a recent trip, and walked around the campus to indulge in a temporal fugue state for a bit. ("Nostalgia ain't what it used to be!") Memories came back -- mostly a lot of studying, leavened by occasional collegiate high jinks. For example, in the courtyard of my freshman dorm <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risley_Residential_College">Risley Residential College</a>, I was overjoyed to find the following evidence:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/IMG_0421-700957.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/IMG_0421-700561.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Let me explain. <br /><br />Risley, like most of the buildings on campus, is heated from the central steam plant. As a Californian, this fascinated me. In particular, unlike conventional residential water heaters, the <span style="font-style:italic;">hot water never ran out</span>! You could stay in the shower indefinitely. What bliss! <br /><br />The other crucial ingredient: In the basement laundry room, there is a large industrial sink, and I noted that the faucet had both a hot water tap as well a male thread that would fit a hose. <br /><br />One depressing night in the winter of (here I must guess) 1982, inspiration hit. I'm pretty sure it was my idea, but I definitely had co-conspirators, whose names have sadly evanesced from my memory with the passing decades. One of them had a car. We proceeded down to an all-night drugstore on Route 13. This being some time before computerized inventory control, we managed to obtain a capacious kiddie pool as well as a length of hose in the middle of winter. Put together, we managed to run hot water from the laundry room sink through the hose out a window to the kiddie pool, thus providing a cozy winter hot tub. I remember with great pleasure the steam rising over the snow, and the fetching company of as many Risloids as could physically fit in the pool, drinks in hand. Ah sweet college days!<br /><br />Having met a Risloid of more recent vintage, I was absolutely ecstatic to learn that this activity continued well into the nineties. Evidence suggests that it even became clothing-optional (<a href="http://www.infogirl.org/blog/jan2005.html">infogirl.org blog link</a>, scroll to Jan 18). So to explain the picture above, it is a kiddie-pool-shaped depression in the Risley courtyard grass, precisely a hose-length from the laundry room window: evidence that the tradition continues today, nearly three decades later. I may not have many accomplishments in my life, but I'm extremely proud of this small one.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-6515749911443541802?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/09/my-best-hack-evar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-1457346768238787971Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:35:00 +00002009-06-24T23:28:26.315-07:00projectscolorWhat color is Twitter?<br><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/twc-712138.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 174px;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/twc-712136.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />En route to another thing I'm working on, I built a little color scraper that scans the <a href="http://twitter.com/public_timeline">Twitter public timeline</a> for words describing colors. Any word that is a <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#svg-color">CSS3 web color name</a> (which some of you graybeards may remember as similar to, but not exactly, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X11_color_names">X11 colors</a>), is detected and the corresponding R, G, B triple is saved. For example, consider the following tweet:<br /><br /><blockquote> <span style="font-family:courier new;">Finally found the WoW Mt. Dew Game few...the red one is good, but the blue one tastes like ass...</span></blockquote><br />Because I only grabbed the first color in a tweet, the above results in <span style="font-family:courier new;">red </span>(255,0,0). Getting a few hundred of these took a day (6/24/2009), as the Twitter API limits how often you can query it. Consequently, most color tweets were missed. However I got enough to make the picture above, where every pixel corresponds to a tweet mentioning that color.<br /><br /><br />Some things to note:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li><item>☞ There's a lot of green in there, no doubt due to <a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23iranelection">#iranelection</a></item><br /></li><li><item>☞ Many color names were metonyms not used to actually describe colors (e.g. <span style="font-family:courier new;">White House</span>, "<span style="font-family:courier new;">green energy industry</span>")</item></li><li>☞ Other occurrences were names from popular culture: e.g. <span style="font-family:courier new;">Chris Brown</span>, <span style="font-family:courier new;">Black Eyed Peas</span>, <span style="font-family:courier new;">Pink</span>.</li><item></item><li><enum><item>☞ <span style="font-family:courier new;"> White </span>and <span style="font-family:courier new;">black </span>seem to be especially popular descriptions of pets</item></enum></li><li><enum><item>☞ Though not statistically significant, no occurrences of the colors described as "<span style="font-family:courier new;">PapayaWhip</span>" or "<span style="font-family:courier new;">LavenderBlush</span>" were observed.</item></enum><enum><item></item></enum></li><li><enum><item>☞ Though rarely tweeted, I treated hex color codes as valid colors (e.g. "#00FF00"). This caught a few hashtags, (e.g "<span style="font-family:courier new;">#ace</span>") for a little random spice.</item></enum><br /></li></ul>Though an obvious next step would be to hook this up to some kind of <a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/05/ripple-matrix.html">color-changing LED display</a>, I have a slightly more interesting idea. Stay tuned...<br /><br />For your amusement, here is a text file with <a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/colortweets.txt">300 color triples and the tweets that generated them</a>.<br /><br /><br /><small>Right, credit due! This was totally easy thanks to <a href="http://mike.verdone.ca/twitter/">Python Twitter Tools</a> and the <a href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/webcolors/1.3">webcolors </a>library.</small><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-1457346768238787971?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/06/what-color-is-twitter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-3044398128778643595Sun, 07 Jun 2009 03:08:00 +00002009-06-06T21:03:04.974-07:00projectsmusicSong of the Orbs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://wiki.orbswarm.com/index.php?title=Image:Img_9679.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://wiki.orbswarm.com/images/thumb/e/ef/Img_9679.jpg/800px-Img_9679.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />So we've been refreshing the sound modules on <a href="http://wiki.orbswarm.com/">SWARM</a>, and have been experimenting with multitrack audio. The idea is that you can, with one command, get all the orbs to play back different mp3 files at the same time, and they will stay roughly synchronized. Erik found some great multitrack Flaming Lips and a highlight of running the orbs was tooling around on the mothership, very late one night, to the sounds of the Orbs singing. <br /><br />This sounded so good that I was inspired to make my own music for the Orbs. Originally this was a 64 minute audioscape I procedurally composed as an aid to insomnia (as much as I love Eno's <span style="font-style:italic;">Thursday Afternoon</span>, there's only so many times you can listen to something, plus it's a little sparse to mask noise very well). It's not really a song, as nothing really happens: it's essentially a "Steve Reich ninth chord" (my specialist terminology) with some high-Q filter sweeps that pick out harmonics above. I re-mastered it as six separate stereo tracks, one for each robot; since it's one chord they will naturally harmonize. Seeing as how you likely don't have spare robots rolling around, here it is as one long track to soothe your insomnia (it's not particularly exciting): <a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/06/song_of_the_orbs.mp3">song_of_the_orbs.mp3</a> (77 MB)<br /><br /><small> Photo Credit: Marcus Hertlein </small><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-3044398128778643595?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/06/song-of-orbs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-3614352587864987026Tue, 26 May 2009 06:54:00 +00002009-05-25T23:58:13.241-07:00projectsMaker FairekineticSon ShivaHere's another one you can see at Maker Faire. This one I made a while ago from six disk drive head actuators that are triggered in different sequences. Pressing a button on the game controller triggers one of eight sequences. <br /><br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/fOr7hFGr7uw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/fOr7hFGr7uw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br />Here's a crisper picture: <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/3534513303/" title="Son Shiva by Jonathan Foote, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2081/3534513303_da48d07e9c.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="son Shiva" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-3614352587864987026?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/05/son-shiva.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-5921713064778446773Sat, 23 May 2009 07:24:00 +00002009-05-23T00:45:36.245-07:00projectsMaker FaireRotation SimulatorSomething else just up as a preview for Maker Faire 2009: the Rotation Simulator. <br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/fslgGbnUWzM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/fslgGbnUWzM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />This is a kinetic artwork that digitally simulates rotation and inertia. Turning the knob sequentially triggers eight solenoids arranged in a circle, giving the impression of rotation. The speed and direction is proportional to the knob rotation, and exponential decay simulates rotational friction mimicking an actual rotating object. However the only thing actually rotating is the knob! The LEDs are used as flyback diodes and flash when the magnetic field in the solenoid is switched off. <br /><br />Here are the guts for those interested in the geeky stuff. As usual, follow the link for an annotated descriptions.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/3552193667/" title="Inside Rotation Simulator by Jonathan Foote, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3415/3552193667_54cde73246.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Inside Rotation Simulator" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-5921713064778446773?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/05/rotation-simulator.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-6941098152788817513Thu, 21 May 2009 06:38:00 +00002009-05-26T00:16:02.189-07:00projectsGhostmatrixWell, this was supposed to be a weekend hack. Only it took a few months. In any case, it's kind of working now! What is it? It's a light printer that uses an array of UV LEDs mechanically scanned across phosphorescent paper, leaving a matrix of glowing dots that slowly fade. Hence "ghostmatrix." I scavenged the linear motor from SRL discard pile, and used an<a href="http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&amp;cPath=5&amp;products_id=20"> Adafruit Mini POV3</a> with custom software as the light engine. Here's a video of the beast in action:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/x24ESDCkmN0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/x24ESDCkmN0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Ultimately I want to hook this up so it will print tweets. Not there yet, but it will be <a href="http://twitter.com/ghostmatrix">@ghostmatrix</a> on Twitter. Need to figure out how to get DMs or @replies into an RSS feed, or just buckle down and use the API.<br /><br />Here's a closeup of the business end. Follow the link to see the labeled parts.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/3549404635/" title="Ghostmatrix motor stage and print head by rotormind, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3344/3549404635_1d73bfbbe6.jpg" alt="Ghostmatrix motor stage and print head" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And for you geeks, here's the Frankensteined driver board. I thought it would be easier to reuse the existing board (only need access to 6 signals) but tracing wires on the autorouted multiple-layer board was the very definition of a PITA.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/3549404637/" title="ghostmatrix driver boards by rotormind, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3631/3549404637_9e9fbe4b30.jpg" alt="ghostmatrix driver boards" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />I should give credit where it's due; I used the "Atari-Small" 8x4 font from <a href="http://hea-www.harvard.edu/%7Efine/Tech/x11fonts.html">Tom's X11 Fonts</a> and the spiffing <a href="http://gitorious.org/bdflib">Python bdflib</a> font manipulation library.<br /><br />UPDATE: some more information about parts and sources: the phosphorescent paper is <br />Grafix "Funky glow In the Dark" and a web search should get you the source. The lightpipes were (if I recall correctly) purchased from mouser.com. If they are still available I could not find a part number, but a similar (if shorter and more expensive) product is this: <a href="http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=696-C011701S-150C">http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=696-C011701S-150C</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-6941098152788817513?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/05/ghostmatrix.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-230633961966923035Thu, 21 May 2009 00:13:00 +00002009-05-20T17:23:16.441-07:00projectsRipple MatrixThis is a recent interactive artwork I'm just getting around to documenting. I showed it at the "TV of Tomorrow" conference in April.<br /><br />This work is a 8 x 15 array of full-color LEDs, driven by an embedded Linux board. Each LED is addressable, and optical sensors make the work interactive if you touch it. I'm running a digital simulation of the 2-dimensional wave equation. Think of water in the bathtub: it's quiescent when not disturbed. However triggering an optical sensor does the digital equivalent of throwing a rock in a pool: it disturbs the initial conditions, and sends ripples propagating away.<br /><br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/rC72XUsb_44&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;color2=0x999999&amp;border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/rC72XUsb_44&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;color2=0x999999&amp;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-230633961966923035?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/05/ripple-matrix.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-349966189676243389Sat, 16 May 2009 05:23:00 +00002009-05-20T17:23:48.672-07:00projectsMy bitchin' coffee table<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/3534524551/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2249/3534524551_3624c0fab9_m.jpg" alt="My bitchin' coffee table" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/3534524551/">My bitchin' coffee table</a> </span> <p>This is a coffee table I built from a salvaged Textronix 7704A oscilloscope mainframe I pulled from a dumpster. A sheet of glass on top and a wooden frame complete the table. (I added the frame because I kept bumping my shin on the invisible glass!)<br /><br />Though I had hopes of resurrecting the scope (originally a 5-figure piece of quality test equipment), it had sat in the rain for a little too long. The PSU in particular had about 14 different output voltages, some of them high, and was completely fried. So I removed some shielding to expose the beautiful insides and made it into a bitchin' coffee table.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/3534524555/" title="Bitchin; closeup"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2036/3534524555_0b0a33d254_m.jpg" alt="My bitchin' coffee table (closeup)" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="240" height="180" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-349966189676243389?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/05/my-bitchin-coffee-table.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-2826196274757961379Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:16:00 +00002009-02-05T23:17:31.938-08:00Kinda speaks for itself<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/barcode-741197.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 80px;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/barcode-741194.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-2826196274757961379?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2009/02/kinda-speaks-for-itself.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-8359236444589356791Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:50:00 +00002008-12-27T18:45:19.808-08:00my so-called sense of humorHello Tweeps! It's that time of year<br />To spread a little Twitter cheer<br />So yelp a carol you holiday hollerers<br />For my fantastic fans and fellow followers<br /><br />So hello <a href="http://www.twitter.com/LeeSonko">@LeeSonko</a> (Twitter-hater!)<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/rickabruzzo">@rickabruzzo</a>, see you later,<br />Sing hosannas to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/MissySB">@MissySB</a>,<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/ekai">@ekai</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/dafkah">@dafkah</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/aviddd">@aviddd</a><br /><br />(If I've mispronounced your handle<br />Please be kind: don't throw a sandal<br />Send me corrections via DM<br />So that no one else will see 'em)<br /><br />Ring in the year with vigor and vim<br />and charming folks like <a href="http://www.twitter.com/sfslim">@sfslim</a><br />May <a href="http://www.twitter.com/laughingsquid">@laughingsquid</a>'s tentacles be a-sway<br />Across the Bay and far away<br /><br />So <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Mister_Robotics">@Mister_Robotics</a>, here's a shout<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/rainesmaker">@rainesmaker</a> knows what it's about<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jamesburns00">@jamesburns00</a> here's a thanky<br />To <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jdavid">@jdavid</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/spanktar">@spanktar</a>'s Spanky.<br /><br />And here is wishing leather weather<br />To <a href="http://www.twitter.com/bobigail">@bobigail</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jong">@jong</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/basmatiheather">@basmatiheather</a><br />And a mellow new year, never harsh, all<br />With compliments to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ccmarshall">@ccmarshall</a><br /><br />Signed ints suck, unsigned are great<br />(At least for <a href="http://www.twitter.com/coder32768">@coder32768</a>)<br />Greets to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/coreyfro">@coreyfro</a> who earns good karma<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jetdillo">@jetdillo</a> too (but where's the arma-?)<br /><br />To <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ctpctp">@ctpctp</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/michaelshiloh">@michaelshiloh</a>:<br />May your output pins go high/low<br />And code compile, no need to worry<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/erikswedberg">@erikswedberg</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/bre">@bre</a>, and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/k0re">@k0re</a><br /><br />Da <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Dostoyevsky">@Dostoyevsky</a>, and no complaint<br />To graceful loser <a href="http://www.twitter.com/JohnMcTaint">@JohnMcTaint</a><br />It's the New Year so time to check<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/Exploratorium">@Exploratorium</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/SFMusicTech">@SFMusicTech</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/MarinLocalMusic">@MarinLocalMusic</a> is the reason<br />For lovely sounds in any season<br />Send some cheer now anyhow<br />To <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Dangerangel">@Dangerangel</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/vniow">@vniow</a><br /><br />Hail fellows, I trust you are well met<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/leifmale">@leifmale</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/dubslife">@dubslife</a>, not least <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zarbet">@zarbet</a><br />Four parts gin and one vermouth<br />Strained with ice for <a href="http://www.twitter.com/NathanBooth">@NathanBooth</a><br /><br />Nuevo año! Happy new year yo,<br />To <a href="http://www.twitter.com/cotygonzales">@cotygonzales</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/criollo">@criollo</a><br />(Is that chocolate, caste, or horse?<br />Or maybe even all, of course!)<br /><br />The holidays: what better cause<br />To send good greetings to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/teiwaz">@teiwaz</a><br />Cheers and howdy and good-on-yas<br />To <a href="http://www.twitter.com/burstein">@burstein</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/catcubed">@catcubed</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/dvrogers">@dvrogers</a><br /><br />Rarer than the finest gold<br />Are <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jennalex">@jennalex</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/erlingwold">@erlingwold</a><br />Hope to see you more this year<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/j_admo">@j_admo</a>, never fear!<br /><br />Hello Vienna! Here's a wish<br />To see <a href="http://www.twitter.com/roboexoticus">@roboexoticus</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/feuerfisch">@feuerfisch</a><br />And who is that there getting winks<br />In the hat of hawt? It's <a href="http://www.twitter.com/frugalbinx">@frugalbinx</a>!<br /><br />In '09 <a href="http://www.twitter.com/escapeberkeley">@escapeberkeley</a> on a run<br />With <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jacktrade">@jacktrade</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jesshobbs">@jesshobbs</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/satiredun">@satiredun</a><br />Or maybe it could be a race<br />Between <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Mitchell_H">@Mitchell_H</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/NIMBYSPACE">@NIMBYSPACE</a><br /><br />See <a href="http://www.twitter.com/theburningman">@theburningman</a> wear of <a href="http://www.twitter.com/yasimak">@yasimak</a><br />Causing mum a heart attack:<br />Megaphone mangled without cause:<br />New year replacement? Send to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/yoz">@yoz</a>!<br /><br />So <a href="http://www.twitter.com/stevenharrison">@stevenharrison</a> gets a verse<br />All to himself. Hope nothing worse!<br />Cheers to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/mprados">@mprados</a>, metal whiz<br />Also to charming <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ninavizz">@ninavizz</a>!<br /><br />Hope the new year will bring smiles all<br />To the <a href="http://www.twitter.com/hatfactory">@hatfactory</a> and to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/milesl">@milesl</a><br />Though he's not on Jimmy Kimmel,<br />Here's a shout to friendly <a href="http://www.twitter.com/wiml">@wiml</a><br /><br />Yummy stuff? I'm a fan, says<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/rrmutt">@rrmutt</a> of <a href="http://www.twitter.com/rachelannyes">@rachelannyes</a><br />And don't forget to send some bacon<br />To <a href="http://www.twitter.com/neoptolomus">@neoptolomus</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ohagan">@ohagan</a><br /><br />Let's not forget our robot friends<br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/PersonalLife">@PersonalLife</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/playtm">@playtm</a><br />When you revolt, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/transBot">@transBot</a> too,<br />Remember I was nice to you<br /><br />With make-up just a littly showy,<br />New year's BRAINNNNS to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zombieXzoe">@zombieXzoe</a><br />Hoping his show's not in ze tank<br />Holiday wishes to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zefrank">@zefrank</a><br /><br />And so this Twitter verse is done<br />#darwin bless you, every one!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-8359236444589356791?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/12/hello-tweeps-its-that-time-of-year-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-1113231574526107525Sun, 21 Dec 2008 01:03:00 +00002008-12-20T17:31:22.005-08:00shameless self-promotionI love living in the futureChassis am Wien<a href="http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/12/10/mitch-altman-travels.html"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/Roboexotica09LR-706164.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/Roboexotica09LR-706136.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></a><br />So we took <a href="http://www.chassistherobot.com">Chassis</a> to <a href="http://www.roboexotica.org/">Roboexotica</a>, the <a href="http://flickr.com/groups/roboexotica2008">International Festival Of Cocktail Robotics</a>, over there in Vienna. An awesome time was had by all, as might be seen in these <a href="http://laughingsquid.com/roboexotica-2008-photos/">pictures</a> by <a href="http://www.eddie.com/">Eddie Codel</a>. <small> Special thanks to Magnus of <a href="http://www.shifz.org/">Shifz</a> and Franz and Johannes of <a href="http://www.monochrom.at/english/">monochrom</a>, and to <a href="http://www.shifz.org/chris/index.html">Chris Veigl</a> for helping us finagle Austrian beer fittings!</small><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-1113231574526107525?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/12/chassis-am-wien.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-2712054695005050741Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:54:00 +00002008-11-20T18:03:04.557-08:00shameless self-promotion<a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/jtfdesign/image/target1.html"><img src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/jtfdesign/image/thumbnails/disktower.jpg" title="disktower.jpg" align="middle" border="0" width="154" height="132" /></a><br />So it's come to this: i need one of those pretentious lower-case design portfolio websites. Ah well, folks will have to <a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/jtfdesign/">settle for this</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-2712054695005050741?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/11/so-its-come-to-this-i-need-one-of-those.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-1501840607709577176Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:38:00 +00002008-10-27T14:10:08.191-07:00On the Harmony of Light<span style="width: 500px;"><span style=""><br />Because I've done a lot of work in <a href="http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cis?q=jonathan+foote&amp;cs=1">music analysis</a> and <a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/foote/interactive/hacks/colorinteraction1.html">color perception</a>, I frequently get asked about the possible analogy between harmony in music and visual perception. Here's a series of well-put questions and my answers:<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>I have always been interested in the fact that our (color) vision spans but one <span class="hl">octave</span>, like a Fisher-Price piano, a single frequency doubling, within which all the colors are unfolded. What I would be interested in is to be able to observe the effect of analogous frequency (<span class="hl">light</span>) collections, at similar ratios to musical pitch classes, that is, to observe the kinds and interactions of the color combinations thus derived. I am not familiar enough with Albers' theory to know whether he used any interval scalings, either integer ratios or "equal temperament" (2 to the 1/12 power=1 half-step) in figuring better or worse combinations, and whether these are related to the quantifiable consonance/dissonance of musical intervals and trichords.<br /></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A:</span> Yes, I see the attraction of this: I assume you are familiar with the <a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta19.htm">Pythagoreans</a>: it is truly an ancient and honorable quest!<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>For example, take a perfect fifth, 7 semitones, or approximately two frequencies at a ratio of 3/2. How do different pairs of colors at this same ratio relate to the eye?<br /></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>Well, as I understand it, the analogy with music is tenuous at best. Color is only tangentially related to wavelength: in fact most colors are "non-spectral," that is, they don't correspond to a particular wavelength (frequency). The most obvious example is magenta which is a mix (chord?) of red and blue <span class="hl">light</span> (low and high frequencies), yet is perceived as single, distinct color that is neither red nor blue. It's as if an interval was perceived as a pure tone, not a mix of frequencies. (It's also interesting that musical pitch is not perfectly related to frequency: if you haven't heard "<a href="http://www.crowncity.net/ratcave/Audio/Audio.html">Shepard tones</a>" or the "<a href="http://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/deutsch_research6.php">tritone paradox</a>" they are worth a quick web search. I wonder what those with perfect pitch make of them?)<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>For me to test this with your<a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/foote/interactive/hacks/colorinteraction1.html"> color combination page</a>, I would need to be able to determine a color by inputting each respective actual frequency. For example, a major third (such as C-E) is approximately a 5/4 ratio. So, if we start at say red-hydrogen, what would be the effect of another color at 5/4 times that frequency's color distance?<br /></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>Unfortunately, pretty much every color on your computer screen is non-spectral, being a mix of red, blue and green pixel colors (which are themselves not particularly spectrally pure). So I can give you hue, but not wavelength. When someone invents a tuned-dye-laser display, that <span style="font-style: italic;">might </span>be possible, but also note that different combinations of wavelengths can result in effectively identical color perceptions. Fortunately, this makes it possible to get a reasonable (if far from perfect) color gamut without the expense and mess of tunable monochromatic lasers.<br /><br />The relation between perceptual color and wavelength is pretty well expressed in the CIE chromaticity diagram, which I think is fascinating, and worth your time. Any color of <span class="hl">light</span> is a point on the diagram, and the color of any mixture of two will fall on the straight line between them: <a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/colper.html">http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/colper.html</a></span></span> Wavelength <span style="width: 500px;"><span style="">runs around the outside for the spectral colors. There are some interactive versions of that which may approach what you are looking for, e.g. : <a href="http://www.cs.rit.edu/%7Encs/color/a_chroma.html">http://www.cs.rit.edu/~ncs/color/a_chroma.html</a><br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q:</span> I'd like to be able to arrange colors somewhat specifically by various frequency intervals, and then ponder the relative qualities of the differences, as if sitting at a piano and listening to pairs or groups of tones. Like Newton, I don't have a hypothesis, it's just an aspect of the phenomena (visible <span class="hl">light</span>) which I haven't seen anyone address, and which I have a hunch there is some information there that might be worth finding out (or not).</blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A:</span> Well, there may well be interesting things going on, but it's pretty clear our perceptual apparatus just doesn't have the frequency resolution to --literally -- see what's happening. The human eye is only sensitive to three primary colors; all other colors are merely a mix of those. It's like your ear only being sensitive to three notes, and all music -- all sound -- would be perceived as mixtures of the three. And that's a pretty strained analogy, which indicates to me that there's a limit to how far it goes.<br /><br />I'm personally interested in the boundaries of color perception: I've made an artwork that uses near-infrared LEDs to produce a very dim but noticeably red glow. Unfortunately, it doesn't look any more red than red -- we -- or at least I -- just don't have spectral sensitivity any lower.<br /><br />As fas as "visible <span class="hl">octave</span>s," I've heard that the retina (or more specifically the blue-responding cones) really are sensitive to well into the high 300 nm ultraviolet, and it's only the lens of the eye that is filtering it out. Apparently people who have had their lenses surgically replaced with synthetic ones see rich and vivid violets they have not perceived before.<br /><br />(As an interesting sidebar, there is evidence that some women are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrachromacy">tetrachromats </a>-- they have an extra optical pigment and so are are sensitive to four primary colors. Honeybees can see not only well into the ultraviolet, but polarization axis as well -- what must the world appear like to them?)<br /></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-1501840607709577176?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/10/on-harmony-of-light.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-7713189796296685470Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:47:00 +00002008-10-11T20:06:16.645-07:00Visit to ParkfieldSo this week I went to Parkfield, the remote California hamlet known for its frequent earthquakes. My friend D.V. Rogers has an indescribably ambitious art installation called <a href="http://pieqf.allshookup.org/">PIEQF </a>there.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/2933471206/" title="PIEQF"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/2933471206_e7f7c0da7d_m.jpg" width="240" height="151" alt="IMG_0017" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/2933416078/" title="IMG_0015 by rotormind, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2933416078_ea5be77d87_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="IMG_0015" /></a><br /><br />I was charmed by the <a href="http://www.parkfield.com/articles/20070707234242.html">Parkfield Inn and Caf</a>e: I wasn't expecting much, but vintage scientific equipment fit right in with the Wild West theme.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/2933422124/" title="Vintage seismic recorder by rotormind, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3198/2933422124_58b4954243_t.jpg" width="75" height="100" alt="Vintage seismic recorder" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/2933421048/" title="Steampunk fountain by rotormind, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2047/2933421048_89863c5689_t.jpg" width="75" height="100" alt="Steampunk fountain" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/2932563403/" title="IMG_0030 by rotormind, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3230/2932563403_165e048595_t.jpg" width="75" height="100" alt="IMG_0030" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/headrotor/2932564513/" title="SR-100 WILMONT SEISMOSCOPE by rotormind, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/2932564513_935abf8113_t.jpg" width="75" height="100" alt="SR-100 WILMONT SEISMOSCOPE" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-7713189796296685470?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/10/visit-to-parkfield.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-5640645040437018397Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:55:00 +00002009-05-20T17:24:40.049-07:00shameless self-promotionprojectsLights in Interior Design<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.interiordesign.net/article/CA6597946.html"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/ARealCorker-722414.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Hey look at that. The lights I designed for <a href="http://www.barbambino.com/">Bar Bambino</a> made <a href="http://www.interiordesign.net/article/CA6597946.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Interior Design</span></a> magazine. (So they got a few details wrong, big whoop.)<br /><br /><small>If you are in the hood (right around the corner from <a href="https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php/NoiseBridge">NoiseBridge</a> as it turns out) stop in and have a glass of Lagrein.</small><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-5640645040437018397?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/10/lights-in-interior-design.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-7206354420283111244Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:10:00 +00002009-05-20T17:28:06.003-07:00projectsGoodness gracious, great balls of fire<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=17&amp;entry_id=29724"><br /><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/orbPyro-758478.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><br />Robots and pyro</a>: does life get any better?<br /><br /><small><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=17&amp;entry_id=29724"><br />(Photo credit: Frederic Larson SFGATE)</a> </small><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-7206354420283111244?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/09/goodness-gracious-great-balls-of-fire.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-8459734805636392091Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:00:00 +00002008-08-03T10:00:01.087-07:00So. Been using <a href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a> for a while. Took me quite a while to get into it: I still can't really believe that anyone really cares about my <a href="http://twitter.com/rrmutt">tweets</a>. But I'm over it. And you know, it's curiously addictive. One thing that bugs me, however, is the 140-character limit, which is pretty arbitrary. So in one of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_(technology)">classical definitions of "hack,"</a> I hacked up a little <a href="http://www.chassistherobot.com/shred.html">work-around called "Shredded Tweet</a>" that takes a longer chunk of text, chops it up into shreds, and tweets each shred in reverse order, so it reads correctly. Take that, arbitrary 140-char limit!<br /><br /><small>Turns out some people read Twitter messages in chronological order, which kind of borks the whole idea. But it was fun to do and now I know way more DHTML and PHP than I did a few days ago. </small><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-8459734805636392091?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/08/so.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-6705277339399701920Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:04:00 +00002008-07-14T02:06:06.135-07:00Does this thing work?If it does, it's showing the temperature in my apt right now. <br /><br /><br /><script src="https://spreadsheets.google.com/gpub?url=http%3A%2F%2F4jqhndr1-a.gmodules.com%2Fig%2Fifr%3Fup__table_query_url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fspreadsheets.google.com%252Ftq%253Frange%253DE2%25253AE2%2526key%253Dp0ZEnLfIiQr_yr4xj6o-PSg%2526gid%253D0%2526pub%253D1%26up__table_query_refresh_interval%3D0%26up_title%3DJon%27s%2520Current%2520Temp%26up_minvalue%3D50%26up_maxvalue%3D90%26up_greenrange%3D50-60%26up_yellowrange%3D60-80%26up_redrange%3D80-90%26up_minorticks%3D5%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252Fig%252Fmodules%252Fgauge.xml&amp;height=389&amp;width=450"></script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-6705277339399701920?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/07/does-this-thing-work.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-1913770169900945599Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:17:00 +00002008-06-27T20:26:25.075-07:00Best kit evar<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/scopeclock-744269.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/scopeclock-744262.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's the <a href="http://dutchtronix.com/ScopeClock.htm">oscilloscope clock kit</a> from <a href="http://dutchtronix.com/">dutchtronix</a>. It's awesome. I'm going to bust out one of my old analog scopes to show it on, but here's a screen shot from me digital one.<br /><br /><small> Call me old school but there's something about a classic phosphor vector display that is just infinitely cooler than a LCD.</small><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-1913770169900945599?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/06/best-kit-evar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-5666656102605694074Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:18:00 +00002008-09-08T21:48:22.035-07:00That's it!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/supp_calculator-783353.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/supp_calculator-783350.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hot diggity, the new iPhone has a <a href="http://www.iphoneworld.ca/news/2008/04/18/song-lyrics-scientific-calculator-in-iphone-firmware-v20/">SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR</a>!<br /><br /><br />That's DOPE!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I'M LIKE SO GETTING ME ONE OF THOSE</span>!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-5666656102605694074?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/06/thats-it.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-3077266113330895331Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:01:00 +00002008-06-06T16:06:24.365-07:00musicWhat a f***ing coincidenceIn a snarky mcCoincidence (see <a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/06/you-know-me-down-with-ctp.html">last post</a>), it turns out there's a band called the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/fuckbuttons">Fuck Buttons</a>, and as you might guess from the name, they are pretty awesome.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cMRhTMLHBLU"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cMRhTMLHBLU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-3077266113330895331?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/06/what-fing-coincidence.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-3526091762086988311Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:20:00 +00002008-06-01T21:29:12.518-07:00my so-called sense of humorYou know me (down with CTP)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/buttons-775189.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/buttons-775182.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />The irrepressible <a href="http://people.tribe.net/ctp">CTP</a> has some <a href="http://people.tribe.net/ctp/blog?topicid=68550054-8ccd-417c-afa1-12459334aa93">new buttons out</a>. See 'em all at <a href="http://www.snarkymcfuckbuttons.com/">snarkymcf***buttons.com</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-3526091762086988311?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/06/you-know-me-down-with-ctp.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-2119987697307552073Wed, 28 May 2008 00:29:00 +00002008-05-27T17:30:35.954-07:00shameless self-promotionThe Robots are ComingAll of them. More precisely, this Saturday there is a rare confluence of space weather that brings together both <a href="http://www.chassistherobot.com/">Chassis</a> and <a href="http://www.orbswarm.com/">SWARM</a> in the same space-time coordinates, namely the <a href="http://laughingsquid.com/laughing-squid-2008/">Laughing Squid Anniversary Party</a>, conveniently located at <a href="http://www.cellspace.org/new/node/46">Cellspace</a>. If you're curious as to how exactly I've been wasting my time for the past year or so come on out and see the results. <small>(Hope they work.)</small><br /><br />Come get a drink from Chassis!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-2119987697307552073?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/05/robots-are-coming.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-7521644475280957274Tue, 20 May 2008 05:46:00 +00002009-05-20T17:25:28.627-07:00shameless self-promotionprojectsChassis has a Posse Website<a href="http://www.chassistherobot.com/">Chassis has a website.</a><br /><br />Hosted by <a href="http://laughingsquid.com/">Laughing Squid</a>, natürlich, who took some <a href="http://laughingsquid.com/roboexotica-usa-photos-video/">awesome photos</a> of last week's <a href="http://www.monochrom.at/english/2008/05/roboexotica-usa.htm">Roboexotica USA</a>. (We also got some <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/multimedia/2008/05/gallery_roboexotica?slide=9&amp;slideView=2">press from Wired</a>, yay).<br /><br />Thanks to the irrepressible <a href="http://www.shifz.com/">Magnus at SHIFZ</a> and Skot Kuiper for the venue.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-7521644475280957274?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/05/chassis-has-posse-website.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3179102922624813887.post-1928019530323691280Thu, 08 May 2008 02:49:00 +00002008-05-07T20:05:17.690-07:00SWARM at Coachella<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/00SW-coach-738190.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/uploaded_images/00SW-coach-738182.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Well, we <a href="http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/02/thoughts-while-ripping-my-krautrock.html">threatened to do it</a>, and by gum we did it. <br /><br />We take preposterously complicated technology out to the f*cking desert and make it work. It's not even art any more, it's a giant wobbly inverted pyramid of fiendish stuff that can and will break disastrously in front of people who paid us money to do it. (Not that you care, but did you know each Orb has eight microcomputers that all have to talk to each other?) We are stupid. But we're badass enough that we've done it and will do it again. <br /><br /><br /><small> Thanks to JDV for the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38766308@N00/sets/72157604817809627/">pix</a></small><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3179102922624813887-1928019530323691280?l=www.rotorbrain.com%2Fblog' alt='' /></div>http://www.rotorbrain.com/blog/2008/05/swarm-at-coachella.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (The Head Rotor)0